Tourism in metropolitan Detroit facts for kids

Left to right: Cranbrook Art Museum, The Henry Ford, the Detroit Zoo, the International Riverfront, Hecker House, Metro Airport, and the Detroit Institute of Arts

Welcome to Detroit, Michigan! This exciting city and its surrounding areas are a super fun place to visit. Lots of people come here every year, and they spend a lot of money exploring all the cool things Detroit has to offer. In 2019, about 19 million people visited, spending around $6 billion! That's a lot of visitors and a big boost for the local economy.

Detroit is known for its unique culture, amazing buildings, and how it's been making a comeback in recent years. Big travel guides like The New York Times and Lonely Planet have even called Detroit a top place to visit! The New York Times put Detroit on its "52 Places to Go" list in 2017, and Lonely Planet said it was the second-best city in the world to visit in 2018. Even Time magazine featured Detroit in its "World's Greatest Places" list in 2022.

The group that helps promote Detroit as a great place to visit is called Visit Detroit. They work to bring conventions, business meetings, and tourists to the area. This organization was actually started way back in 1896, making it the very first group of its kind in the world!

Awesome Places to Explore in Detroit

Detroit's tourism scene is all about bringing in big crowds with cool attractions and fun events. As the world's original car-making capital, the city hosts the yearly North American International Auto Show in January. This is a huge event that lasts for several days!

Other big events that show off Detroit's culture include the Motown Winter Blast and the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival. These can draw hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of people! Many people from the suburbs also enjoy dining out, going to cultural events, or watching sports games in the city.

Top Attractions for Families

One of the most popular places to visit is The Henry Ford in Dearborn. It's America's largest indoor and outdoor museum complex and a National Historic Landmark. You can even ride in a Ford Model T there! It also has an IMAX theater right next to the Automotive Hall of Fame.

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is another must-see spot. It's a huge art museum with over 100 galleries. You can see art from ancient times, like Greek and Egyptian pieces, as well as art from all over the world. The DIA also has famous murals by Diego Rivera called Detroit Industry Murals, which show the city's history of making cars.

The Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak is also a big hit. It has an amazing Arctic Ring of Wildlife exhibit where you can walk through an underwater tunnel and see polar bears swimming above you! The Henry Ford, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Detroit Zoo together attract about 2.5 million visitors every year.

Detroit is also home to the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant. This building was built in 1904 and is now a museum. It's the oldest car factory in the world that's open to the public, and it's where the first Ford Model T cars were made!

Historic Homes and Car Museums

If you love cars and history, you can visit the homes of famous car makers that are now open to the public. These include:

• The Edsel and Eleanor Ford House on Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe.
• Henry Ford's Fair Lane Estate in Dearborn.
• The Dodge-Wilson estate, Meadow Brook Hall, in Rochester Hills.

You can also visit the Cranbrook House and Gardens in Bloomfield Hills, which was the home of a famous publisher.

The Woodward Dream Cruise, held every August, is a huge event where about one million people come to see classic cars. Another cool car museum is the Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills.

Fun and Entertainment Districts

Detroit's Greektown is a lively area with lots of restaurants and entertainment. The city also has big casino hotels like MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Hollywood Casino at Greektown. Just across the river in Canada, there's Caesars Windsor. These places offer lots of fun nightlife.

The Detroit International Riverfront is a beautiful area that hosts many events. This includes the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival in late June, which has one of the biggest fireworks displays in the country! The Electronic Music Festival also takes place here on Memorial Day weekend. More than 15 million people cross the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel every year to visit Detroit and Windsor.

Where to Stay: Hotels and Resorts

Detroit has many hotels and resorts for visitors. The city's downtown area alone has about 5,000 hotel rooms! Some famous hotels include the historic Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, which is one of the largest hotel conference centers in the U.S.

You can also find charming historic inns and unique "boutique" hotels. Some examples are the Inn on Ferry Street in Midtown Detroit, the Inn at 97 Winder in Brush Park Historic District, and The Dearborn Inn near The Henry Ford.

The Renaissance Center is a huge building complex on the riverfront that is also the world headquarters for General Motors. It has shops, restaurants, and a beautiful riverwalk that connects to parks and other fun places.

Shopping and Delicious Food

Detroit and its surrounding areas have many great places to shop and eat.

Downtown Shopping and Markets

In Downtown Detroit, you can explore Greektown, the Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District (also called Merchant's Row), and the shops and restaurants at the Renaissance Center along the Detroit International Riverfront.

The Eastern Market is a huge outdoor market. It's the largest open-air flower market in the United States and has over 150 food and specialty businesses. On Saturdays, about 45,000 people come to shop at this historic market!

Other cool shopping streets can be found in towns like Birmingham, Royal Oak, Northville, Rochester, and Plymouth.

Big Malls and Outdoor Shopping Centers

If you love malls, Detroit has many! The fancy Somerset Collection mall in Troy is one of the top malls in the U.S. The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township and The Village of Rochester Hills are also popular outdoor shopping centers.

Other big malls include Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, Laurel Park Place in Livonia, Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, and Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills.

Fun Things to Do: Entertainment and Events

Detroit is a hub for live music and theater! The Windsor-Detroit casino resorts have nightclubs, restaurants, and big places for shows.

Live Music and Theater

Detroit has been famous for its live music since the 1940s. The area has two of the best live music venues in the U.S.: DTE Energy Music Theatre and The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Detroit's theater scene is the second largest in the U.S. after Broadway in New York City! Major places to see shows include the Fox Theatre, Masonic Temple Theatre, the Detroit Opera House, and the Fisher Theatre. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra performs at Orchestra Hall.

The city also hosts many music events every year, like the Detroit International Jazz Festival and the Electronic Music Festival.

Exciting Annual Events

Detroit has many exciting festivals and events throughout the year. Here are some of the biggest ones:

Sports and Outdoor Fun

Detroit is a big sports city! It has hosted major events like Super Bowl XL. Ford Field hosted the 2009 NCAA Final Four basketball championship. Major League Baseball's All-Star Game was held at Comerica Park in 2005. These big events bring in millions of dollars for the city!

The area also has a huge network of "metroparks" – over 24,000 acres of parks that get about 9 million visitors every year. You can go skiing in the winter at places like Alpine Valley Ski Resort or Pine Knob Ski Resort. In warmer weather, you can kayak or canoe on the Huron River, or enjoy freshwater beaches like Metro Beach and Stony Creek Beach.

Golf is also very popular, with many courses and country clubs. The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is a special place – it's the only international wildlife preserve in North America, right in the middle of a big city! It protects islands, wetlands, and marshes along the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie.

Cool Places to See

Here's a list of some other interesting places to visit in the Detroit area:

Images for kids

• 

  Tourists can ride in a Model T in Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford, a National Historic Landmark.

• 

  The historic Edsel and Eleanor Ford House on Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe is open to the public for guided tours.

• 

  Greektown Casino Hotel overlooks Greektown Historic District in Detroit

• 

  Detroit Princess Riverboat charter hosts regularly scheduled public cruises.

• 

  MGM Grand Detroit

• 

  Somerset Collection adjacent to the Somerset Inn in Troy

• 

  The R. Hirt Jr., Co. (1893) in the Eastern Market

• 

  Rochester, settled in 1817

• 

  Detroit Institute of Arts
• 

  Fox Theatre is a National Historic Landmark near Detroit's Grand Circus.

• 

  Fireworks at the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival

• 

  Cycling in Detroit on Woodward Avenue

• 

  Red Bull Air Race World Championship along the International Riverfront

• 

  Wayne County Lightfest in December contain giant displays made of more than one million lights.

• 

  Comerica Park adjacent to Ford Field

• 

  The beach on Lake St. Clair in the Metro Detroit community of St. Clair Shores

• 

  Detroit Zoo's Arctic Ring of Life and Rackham Fountain

• 
• 

  David Whitney House restaurant in Midtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• 

  Elwood Bar and Grill, Downtown, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.